Union, board hold hearing on Keim resignation

On Nov. 19, Thomas Greig, a UniServ director of the Michigan Education Association, held a hearing with the Sturgis Public Schools Board of Education to further discuss issues that led to Bill Keim's resignation as head coach of the Sturgis High School football team.

On Nov. 19, Thomas Greig, a UniServ director of the Michigan Education Association, held a hearing with the Sturgis Public Schools Board of Education to further discuss issues that led to Bill Keim's resignation as head coach of the Sturgis High School football team.

"All we asked for was a board hearing," Greig said. "There are still legal remedies Mr. Keim could pursue, but has instead chosen to try and remedy through this process."

Using the Freedom of Information Act policies, MEA requested and received 4,000 email messages, more than 1,000 logged telephone calls and paper documentation. Greig presented the board a packet of 110 pages of the obtained information.

"It was everything that pertained to Bill Keim's coaching and this incident. I did not leave anything out in that regard," Grieg said. "(It) was presented to each board member and explained in the 1.5 hour presentation."

Coaching issues are under Schedule B of the MEA, which contains written language defining working conditions and other contractual items, Grieg said.

Beyond bringing up old business or not being willing to leave the issue alone, there was a goal for the hearing, Grieg said.

"We wanted to see a procedure to include the proper way to communicate throughout the district," Grieg said. "I would hope that one of the outcomes of this hearing is the public acknowledgment that the things printed and talked about regarding Mr. Keim were not accurate."

Kris Crabill, president of the Sturgis Education Association, attended the meeting to take notes. She had turned the process over to the Greig as she is new to the position and didn't feel knowledgeable enough for the task.

Crabill said it gave Keim the opportunity to tell his side of the story to the board.

On Wednesday, the school board issued a response, thanking Keim for presenting his concerns.

"The SPS board continues to develop policy and goals to improve instruction, procedures and communication at SPS. In fact, we have been discussing for several months now a new process for developing district-wide goals, and we are quite certain that one of those goals will include culture and climate. A subset of that goal would deal with extracurricular goals and procedures."

It was signed by Thomas Robertson, board secretary.

Keim responded by saying, "I'm appreciative that the board met with us in a special session to hear my reasons for resigning. This whole situation would have been avoided if district policy had been followed. Instead it escalated to a point where kids and the program have been hurt."